On September 14, 1987, as a part of his whirlwind tour of the United States, Pope John Paul II visited Phoenix. It was one of the biggest news events that The Arizona Republic and its sister newspaper, The Phoenix Gazette, would cover during my career at the newspaper. In Tempe, he held Mass for 75,000 at Sun Devil Stadium. As a way of celebrating successful coverage the papers jointly produced a special section about how they covered the event. From the opening story:
The Pope is coming to Phoenix. Those six words, spoken more than a year ago, launched a herculean effort by the state’s two largest newspapers, The Arizona Republic and The Phoenix Gazette, to cover Pope John Paul II’s visit on Sept. 14, 1987. The goal was to capture the essence of the man and his effect on the city and those who saw him.
The task enveloped not only the Republic and Gazette newsrooms and such support services as the Library, Photo Lab and Promotion Department, but also Production, Circulation and Security.
What I like most about this special section was seeing all of the faces from the Republic newsroom and reading this list of managers at both newspapers.
Phoenix Newspapers Inc. publishes Arizona’s largest newspapers, The Arizona Republic and The Phoenix Gazette. Pat Murphy is publisher of both papers. The newsrooms are competitive. The Republic is a morning newspaper with a daily circulation of 343, 723 and a Sunday circulation of 539,323.
Alan Moyer is managing editor: Coordinating the papal coverage were Assistant Managing Editors Howard Armstrong, Howard I. Finberg and Robert Franken. Tom Bauer served as special sections editor. The Gazette, an afternoon newspaper, has a daily circulation of 111,253. Lynne Holt is managing editor. Coordinating papal coverage were Assistant Managing Editor / News Administration Mickey Hirten, City Editor Mike McGrevey and Photo Editor Mary Ann Nock. Nock also was special sections editor.